Want to get pregnant? Don’t want to get pregnant? Share your tips with Natural Cycles - £300 to be won NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

It’s – for many – one of life’s juxtapositions that we can spend many months and years trying to avoid pregnancy and can also spend a long time trying to get pregnant!

The team behind Natural Cycles, the fertility app for women which, in clinical studies, has been shown to be as effective as The Pill, would love to hear your tips and stories based on fertility – how you listen to your body to look for signs of ovulation, how you managed to conceive and whether you use natural methods to control your fertility at all.

They say “Natural Cycles works by identifying a woman’s ovulation and fertile window by tracking her period and temperature.” Women are required to record the temperature under their tongue in the morning and enter it into the app which uses a unique algorithm to determine whether you are fertile on that day. “The success of Natural Cycles depends on its algorithm”, says Dr Elina Berglund, Natural Cycles CTO and co-founder. The app was invented by husband and wife team Dr Raoul Scherwitzl and Dr Elina Berglund who was part of the Nobel Prize-winning team that discovered the Higgs boson. “We’ve called the algorithm ‘Alba’ and it’s unique because it has collected data from hundreds of thousands of cycles. This means Natural Cycles can adapt to each individual woman’s body and, with a high degree of precision and accuracy, determine when she is ovulating.” Natural Cycles has 130,000 users in 161 countries.

They’d also love to know what you think about the app – based on first impressions – have a look here and share on this thread what you think? Do you think the app would be a convenient alternative to the contraception you use now or something you’d consider if you were TTCing?

Whatever your story, please share it below and you will be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list). PLUS 50 posters selected at random will also win a lovely gift from Natural Cycles – which includes 6 month of free subscription and a basal thermometer (worth £43).

Thanks and good luck with the prize draws.

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

I don't think I'd use this to prevent pregnancy, that just seems a bit irresponsible. There's a fine line between doing what you can to maximise chances of pregnancy versus being realistic about not getting pregnant. Keep it ot he 'trying to get pregnant market' or you'll lose credibility. The only two friends I have who would have used temperature to avoid pregnancy were deeply religious and didn't have intercourse until after marriage.

I've got 3 little girls who are very close in age, so am not looking to get pregnant again, at one point they were all under 3. My oldest is 3 yrs old, middle one is 22 months & youngest is 4 months old. I didn't use any ovulation apps or gadgets with any of my pregnancies, think I am just lucky and blessed to have 3 beautiful girls.

I am lucky in that I've mostly been able to pinpoint my ovulation times by having ovulation pain and by noticing mucus changes. I have had friends struggle ttc and have seen the stress they have been under, so if it helps couples understand their cycles better and gives them a greater chance then I think it's a good idea.

stefalfie11 & clopper
I recently read on their blog that it only takes about 3 months to get pregnant when using Natural Cycles which is impressive. I think it would defo take the stress off and will use it once we try again.

I do understand some of your concerns about using it as its new but I'm very happy with it, we were using just condoms before this and now I feel even more safe because I always know where I'm at in my cycle. I've used other contraceptives over the years but they really weren't for me. I also love getting to know so much about my body and once you have that knowledge you can use it to either plan or prevent a pregnancy - it's up to you ;)

There are many ways to know when you are ovulating - this app is one of them. However knowing when your fertile days and having sex during those periods is a step in the right direction to getting pregnant and most people seriously ttc would be aware of this. Claims like "on average it takes 3 months to get pregnant when planning a pregnancy with natural cycles" aren't helpful because its probably the same time if you track your ovulation through another method.

Im not trying to have another baby yet as my little one is a bit of a handful - a lovely handful of course - but when I do I will try the app - looks brilliant- very easy to use which I like. My ovulation cycle is all over the place and before I got pregnant I wasnt getting the right dates in my cycle unstill i used ovulation sticks :)

I naturally feel when im ovulating as i get a cramp sensation on one sideat the Same time in the month
I woukdnt use an app as im not organised or prescriptive enough and luckily or unluckily dependant on your view! fall pregnant quickly (1st or second month of not using any contraceptive all 3 times)
I can see how it could be useful for some ttc but i dont think it should be used as contraceptive any more than pulling out is. Youre effectively taking your chances!

The app looks well designed but the cost is prohibitive.

I used a combination of bbt, ovulation tests and a fertility app when I stopped using contraception to try and understand my cycle. It taught me to recognise types of cervical mucus and other body cues that I was ovulating.

We used condoms initially but only during suspected fertile times, if I'd got the fertile window wrong we'd have been happy with a pregnancy at any stage.

After three months of monitoring we tried to conceive and caught the first month.

Understanding my body/cycle was a huge help and it made me feel empowered by having that understanding.

It was a relatively cheap method (free app, cheapo ovulation tests and a £12 thermometer) but it got me the result I wanted.

I'm very lucky as I've had two pregnancies, both conceived in the first month of trying. We definitely weren't expecting it. In fact we made the choice to start trying for our first before getting married as we knew so many people who had had trouble and were concerned that it could take us years. I am well aware of how lucky I am. I am an overthinker and know that I would have been very stressed if it took more than a couple of months. After the first pregnancy we didn't think too much about contraception, however now we're not sure if we want another and so this is something I really need to be prepared for!

Sometimes your own cycle can't be trusted. I had 3 periods after 3rd baby, started at around 18 months post partum and while still breastfeeding. Between period 1 and 2 there were around 49 days with a 12 day luteal phase, and between period 2 and 3 there were 47, with 12 day luteal phase.

So after period 3 I had an idea of when I'd ovulate!..... you can see where this is going right...... I ovulated 10 days earlier than the earlst I expected it. It would have been a 35 day cycle. But as we were still "discussing" contraception and thought we had another 10 days til we needed to be careful..... Baby #4 is due in 5 weeks time.

I agree with some other mums that ttc can be stressful and having these type of apps are probably going to add to the stress and pressure. For me personally I preferred nature to take it's course. Different ways for us all I guess.

After spending years trying to get pregnant and being aware of signs of ovulation it has been pretty easy avoiding pregnancy now too though you def need to have a super regular cycle to follow the natural method when not trying to get pregnant!

I thought this looks a bit expensive when there are lots of free apps. I actually enjoy being aware of my natural cycles. When I was trying to conceive I was really aware of my body, and it was that that let me know when I was ovulating. I felt the pain of ovulating, and knew. It was amazing being so aware of your body's natural movement..

I use natural family planning but no way would I rely on an app that doesn't include cervical mucus . Temperatures only tell you when you have ovulated, not when you're going to (because the higher temps come from high progesterone in the luteal phase.

If this gives you green days before ovulation without looking at cervical mucus it must be based on predicting future cycles from previous ones, which as other posters have said is a really bad idea.

Proper sympto thermal methods are very reliable [[http://www.fpa.org.uk/contraception-help/natural-family-planning]]

Better link www.fpa.org.uk/contraception-help/natural-family-planning

Know your cycle and its fairly easy to work out when ovulation is -- well it was for me anyways!

I once read that if a woman orgasms after her partner has ejaculated, it increases her chances of getting pregnant. Something to do with the cervix? I have no idea whether this is true or not but I do know that when I got pregnant, this is what I did.
And it's more fun!

I found that an ovulation kit was the best.

Just signed up to the app!

I think its a really interesting idea. When TTC I did look at CM and saliva ferning, and maybe this would have helped. I'm interested in NFP, but not sure if its suitable when you become perimenopausal?

My tip would be, if you are ttc, keep it between you and your partner. You don't need the added stress of people asking or looking at you all the time

I never had a problem with conception. I was very lucky, having 4 beautiful children.

I tracked with an app and it was great. We knew where we were and it worked first month!

Not sure this would be for me. I'd find taking my temp every morning too much hassle, not because of the time it takes but because I'd be included to forget during the rush to get to work. Also I would probably use the less expensive or free apps that are similar, rather than pay this much.
I definitely wouldn't use this as contraception I'm afraid. I feel more comfortable with the method I'm using and happy that it isn't reliant on my swiss cheese brain/memory!

My husband and I practice family planning as our method of birth control. I use the free website mymonthlycycles.com and it gives you an estimated ovulation date based on your previous period. It isn't as accurate as this app sounds though.

My body is very good at letting me know when it's ovulating. I found that the longer I'm off birth control the easier it is. Although some of the symptoms I experience are unpleasant. I normally get pretty uncomfortable ovulation cramps. I also use cervical mucus to help determine when I'm ovulating. I also experience an increase to my sex drive as well as headaches.

When I did conceive my husband and I just had a lot of sex during my suggested ovulation time and fell pregnant the next month.

I'm not TTC right now but looking at the app it seems very straightforward. I've not used ovulation sticks in the past but my friend has and recommends them and thinks they shortened the time it took her to fall pregnant last time

If I was TTC I'd definitely try the app